Working in a tannery with exotic leather can be challenging at times , but it has it's ups as well . Let's take a look at how these leathers are finished and the role of trade unions on the plant .
My personal background :
First of all I want to thank the steemit community for what they are doing on steemit ! I'm almost 4 weeks on steemit and I have to say it's one of the best out there.
I started working at Klein Karoo International , it's an Ostrich leather tannery , when I was 19 years old . I was employed for 3 years until I got fed up with the daily routine of factory work .
I worked in the finishing department where all the hides/skins get finished with different types of finishes. While I was working for this company , I got elected as a Shop steward on the plant for the employees . I was a trade union representative for SACTWU trade union . There was another union on the plant called NULAW , but SACTWU was the majority. In South Africa when you are the majority you always rule the situation. I was the youngest "Shop steward" in SACTWU and on top of that I was white ! White guy represent 170 black employees in a factory . I got so much love from everybody on the plant and we became brothers , all of us. At times it was challenging to negotiate for better wages or to defend a member in a disciplinary hearing . I was bad at first , had no confidence to walk into the CEO's office and negotiate for higher wages . I had an awesome "Senior" Shop steward who taught me many things . Everything I know is because of him and for that I say , Thank you my Leader ! I got the confidence to talk and deliver presentations to large groups of people . I could use my mouth to properly defend a member and negotiate for better wages. One of my best experiences ever !
Tanning the raw skins and finishing it .
We worked with many different types of skins/hides. The main 2 species were Ostrich and Crocodile leather . The raw skins get delivered in a big truck to the raw skin store , they remove all the little pieces of feathers and fat that is stuck on the skin. They have this huge milling drums where the skins get washed with salt and water to protect it from bacteria. After that is finished the skins go to the tanning department where they use tanning chemicals like Chromosal B to make wet blue leather. When a client place an order for 200 or 500 finished leather skins , the wet blue gets graded according to it's quality and then the finishing process begins. The ISO Health and Safety Acts are strictly implemented , because you work with dangerous and flammable chemicals on a large scale .
There are many dye drums where the skins get dyed to the desired color. After the skins are dyed and toggled for drying, the leather is taken to the spraying area where the finish is sprayed on by hand . There are 15 spray booths where employees stand and hand spray every single skin . Each skin gets a base coat , a dye coat , because we don't want different shades in the batch , and the special finish top coat depending on the desired finish required by the client . When this process is done , the sprayed skins are moved to the polishing department where they get polished on machines with different types of brushes for different types of finishes . When the leather is in it's final stage , it gets measured and graded for one last time before it is shipped off to the client .
Watch the video !!
Being a Union Representative on the plant .
Everyday is a new challenge at work . Whether it is problems with the leather or problems at the union. I personally had some tough times in disciplinary hearings while defending a member . Some of them get caught stealing and others get caught being drunk on a machine. The company have strict policies about alcohol and fighting on the plant. Many times employees get angry with one another and then a fight breaks out. it's understandable that they are going to argue. If you worked 8 hours , shoulder to shoulder , next to someone else you will have bad days. In one disciplinary hearing the member was caught under the influence of alcohol. I knew he was on a final written warning , so I said to the company the employee have an addiction and he needed help. They couldn't dismiss him and was forced to send him to rehab for alcohol abuse. My main purpose was to defend the employee and his job. Sometimes the company will unlawfully dismiss an employee and then we take the case to the labor court. People are people and they will make mistakes. Nobody is perfect and if you admit you have a problem and you are willing to accept help , why not help the guy rather than to dismiss him. The employees have a responsibility to know what is right and wrong. I used to talk hard with my members and tell them , if you do something that is out of my control you will get dismissed and then you become one of the unemployment statistics. Most of the time they followed my advise because they chose me to lead them and that is exactly what I did.
Looking deeper into Trade Unions .
There are so much corrupting revolving trade unions and people does not know about it. Members get exploited by their own trade unions. Who is suppose to defend and protect the members if the trade unions is corrupt ? South Africa is one big corruption on it's own , but the major unions like COSATU and SACTWU also have a finger in the pie. I went to a national congress with the union where myself and 12 other Shop stewards was elected to represent our branch as delegates. The hotels we lived in , the food we ate , the people who was invited as guest speakers , the items we got at the congress , it was all a bit too much for me. They spend a lot of money , the members money, on unnecessary things. Why not take that money and feed the hungry ? You complain about poverty but you don't reach out to your own people. You drive the latest Audi while your "brother" is starving. It's really sad to witness something like this , but it's the reality of the situation.
I'm going to do a second part of this post where I will go into more detail about my time at the union and the corruption revolving around trade unions.
